Fall TV Preview

Here it is... the shows I will watch, and the shows that I think are good. (They are not always one and the same.)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - This show took a few episodes to pick up in it's inaugural season, but by the end it had come into it's own as a compelling character drama. I have yet to see a Terminator movie, and the television series is not quite canon with the movies themselves (nor are the movies 'canon' with themselves, either), which may make it more accessible to folks like me. Summer Glau shines as the female terminator sent to protect mankind. And Lena Headly (playing the weary, weathered mom of the future hope for mankind) can take sub-par material and make it sublime. The show is dark, it's gritty, but it's compelling. It cares about the human drama. For a show with robots, that's really something.
This season will deal with Skynet. The world will end, EVENTUALLY!!!

Pushing Daisies - This hour-long dramedy is like a grown-up version of a Saturday morning kid's cartoon. It is colorful, fun, usually harmless and one big fun ride. (Same can be said for ABC Family's The Middleman, but according to Nielsen, you guys never watched it, so how would you know?) *ahem* The show, whose premise is very high-concept, is completely approachable. It is a show that will eventually be used to describe something else. As in, you can only say "Pushing Daisies is like a mix between a Rode Dahl book and a Tim Burton movie," someday you'll be saying "this is a little like Pushing Daisies." It's colorful, charming, sometimes over-the-top, but always funny and always entertaining. The feeling it leaves you with is like eating a piece of your favorite pie - and going back for seconds. Except you don't have to break out the Tums afterwards.

Bones - This show already returned, but it is still one worth checking out. It's a crime procedural that focuses more time on the dynamic and 'tension' (Moonlighting-type tension) between the two leads. And then time is spent with relationships with the people in the lab. And while they will show you completely gross human remains, I will laugh more at the humor in an episode of Bones than will laugh during an hour-long episode of The Office. It may not be sophisticated, but the show is very comfortable with itself and what it is. And that's entertainment.

House - I love/hate this show. When the show breaks out of it's mold, it can be something incredibly special. The two-part finale (the bus accident) was some of TV's finest hours. When Dr. House had to help out that lady stranded in the ice shelter? Compelling and - pardon the pun - chilling. But when it sticks to it's default formula (almost kill the patient three times then get the right diagnosis), it is tedius and often unamusing. In those cases, it's usually just the rare sparring between House and his comedic foil Wilson that keep the energy of the show afloat. But the show is worth watching, especially for when you stumble upon those rare gems of episodes. They are truely something to behold.
This upcoming season will look into the all-too-common question of, how can I rebuild my friendship with you when I kind of killed your girlfriend?

Heroes - The show that is described by many - very unfairly - as the anti-Lost. Except it is as complicated. And has by now probably more characters than Lost ever will. But enough about who Ali Larter plays on the show! (The actress plays a character with multiple personalities.) The show runners promised to fix their mistakes in the second half of season one for a terrific season two. Well, season two sucked. Big time. So now they are promising to fix the mistakes again. And part of that includes adding villians, which is a novel idea for a good vs. evil-type show. This show was good in season one. But then there was Hiro and the cherry blossoms. Claire became more like a character from The Hills than the Claire we saw before. And Parkman still did not do much at all.
I have seen spoilers for this season. And I hear the premiere is excellent. But I am very cautious about the storylines I have heard about. VERY cautious.

Chuck - This show is about a tech-support worker who accidentally gets a top-secret government database inside his brain. One of the main jokes on the show is that the main character, Chuck, is so geeky that he is a loser, and that's why it's amazing a stunning woman is sent to protect him. Except, the actor, Zachary Levi, is not exactly underperforming in the look's department. And Chuck's personality is, well, just lovable, not that geeky. But in this type of show, it doesn't matter! Because it is the characters and their interactions that carry the show through. This is the type of show that may not even care much about consistency in later seasons. And it wouldn't matter. As long as they keep up the fun energy and the engaging relationships, it will remain one of my favorite shows.

Brothers & Sisters - I watch this show. I don't recommend it. It has some of the best acting on television, to date. But really, I can't - in good conscience - recommend this show. (But until the soap opera plots become too much to handle, I'll still make it my guilty pleasure.) The show is about the Walker family. Kitty and Tommy are Republicans, the rest are Democrats. Kitty is married to a Republican Senator who just pulled out of a Presidential bid. Tommy cheated on his wife, which was probably easy material for actor Balthazzar Getty. Said wife lost one of her babies and suffered depression. Kevin is gay, and can't keep a solid relationship for more than half a season. (But he got married in the season finale, so, we'll see.) Sarah is divorced, lost her kids in the settlement and is now managing her father's business, which may be crumbling underneath her. Justin is a recovering alcoholic and a war veteran. Rebecca was thought to be a long-lost sibling, but isn't, which means she and Justin can hook up, which is WEIRD. Uncle Saul, about 65 now, just decided to come out of the closet. And the patriarch, Nora (Sally Field), does better at keeping her own family in line than her own life. Although she has dated Danny Glover and Chevy Chase, so, she's not doing that terribly.
And the whole thing is complicated by the late patriarch's mistress, who holds a considerable interest in the family company. Awkward.
Again, as you can see, it is really not a show for everybody.

Private Practice - The show I am looking forward to the most. And here's why: it is an hour of entertainment. You don't have to think. You don't have to wonder, worry, or have any expectations. It's not a show for kids (much like, well, the rest of primetime), but it is definately a guilty-fun hour to watch.